Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2020

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 84, NWS Chicago, IL

July 19, 2020Will County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 19, 2020, 11:02 AM CDT for Will County, Illinois. It was in force for 28 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 19, 2020, 11:02 AM CDT (16:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 2020, 11:30 AM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
0.75 in
Wind
60.0 mph

County Will County, IL

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:04 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 19, 10:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 153 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2020-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 930 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2020-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-192 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1208 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 19, 10:05 AM CDT, 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 10:05 AM CDT, 57 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL
1005 AM CDT Sun Jul 19 2020

.MESOSCALE DISCUSSION...
1005 AM CDT

Currently, a compact bowing line of storms (and associated MCV)
is moving across Henry, Bureau, Stark, and northern Marshall
counties. The bow is being driven by a strong 80-85kt RIJ seen
nicely on our radar, with reports from NWS Quad Cities confirming
severe winds are reaching the surface. Given the storm is moving
into an airmass into which heavy rain and hence cool air has been
falling over the past few hours, and the low-level shear is not
optimally strong to balance such a strong surging RIJ/cold pool,
confidence in the damaging winds continuing to plow into La Salle
county is not high even though a reservoir of plentiful
instability exists downstream from the cluster. So, while the bow
may continue eastward through northern Illinois, the highest winds
may remain elevated and hence limit the severe weather threat to
an isolated basis. We touched base with SPC and they agree
- though if damage continues into La Salle county, we will have to
entertain the idea of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch through a small
portion of northern Illinois.

Borchardt

&&

.SHORT TERM...
245 AM CDT

Through Today...

Upstream convection has failed to materialize early this morning
across Iowa and and has been quite slow to develop southward
through western Wisconsin. As of 230am CT, convection has reached
only as far south as near La Crosse. The lack of convection has
prevented any development of a surging cold pool that was
originally expected to spread a line of thunderstorms
southeastward into at least the northern CWA prior to daybreak.
While some widely isolated showers have attempted to develop
across southwest Wisconsin and northwest Illinois in association
with an axis of weak sub- 850 hPa WAA, it appears capping with an
EML originally present on the 00Z DVN RAOB and additional warming
around 750 hPa has been enough to prevent convection in the
absence of any other appreciable forcing. Additionally, rather dry
air within the EML up to at least 500 hPa is eroding any weaker
updrafts that develop. At this time, it appears any convection
that develops will be tied to or just ahead of the surface cold
front currently bifurcating Iowa from NE to SW. A sheared out mid-
level wave within weakly cyclonic flow in the vicinity of the
front may provide enough lift to erode some of the capping.

Putting together everything above, have made substantial delays
to the arrival of any potential thunderstorms to after daybreak
for all but the north-central CWA. Coverage will likely be lower
given the lack of any upstream cold pool, so am not expecting
anything more than a loosely broken line of showers and storms
drifting across northern Illinois through mid-morning. The cold
front will gradually become more W to E oriented while shifting
south across the remainder of the CWA, eventually stalling just
south of the CWA by this evening. Scattered thunderstorms will be
possible at any point in the warm and humid airmass ahead of the
front, with the greatest coverage/chance confined to the far
southern CWA late this afternoon. Any thunderstorm today will have
the potential to produce damaging wind gusts given 40 knot flow
as low as 1.5kft this morning and a dry column this afternoon.

A break from the humidity is expected as much drier air arrives
behind the cold front. If no congealed outflow boundaries develop
and surge southeast this morning, the combination of temps rising
to near 90F and dew points still in the mid 70s will allow heat
index values to rise to around 100F for areas south and east of a
Pontiac to Kankakee to Valparaiso line.

Kluber

&&

.LONG TERM...
302 AM CDT

Tonight through Saturday...

Quieter and a bit more pleasant conditions are still expected for
Monday following todays cold front. A surface ridge of high
pressure will shift over the area for Monday bringing with it some
lower humidity and more seasonable temperatures in the mid 80s.
Slight cooler conditions are likely along the lakeshore due to
the likelihood for an afternoon lake breeze. Any shower and
thunderstorm activity on Monday is expected to remain well south
of the area in closer proximity to the surface boundary.

The threat for some showers and thunderstorms will return to the
area late Monday night and especially on Tuesday as the surface
boundary to our south begins to lift back northward across the
area. Several convectively enhanced impulses are likely to drive
bouts of convection in the viscid of the frontal boundary through
midweek. So as this boundary shifts back northward over the area
on Tuesday we will have a decent shot at having a period or two
showers and storms through Midweek.

The chances for convection look to be lower over our area for the
later half of the week and into the weekend as upper level
heights look to build across the central CONUS. The main story
with these building upper level heights will be the potential for
a return to a period of dangerous heat and humidity next weekend.
This potential will need to be monitored.

KJB

&&

.AVIATION...
For the 12Z TAFs...

Scattered thunderstorms continue to develop along a narrow band
from KPIA to KMDW at press time. With each cell, drops in
visibility to 1SM and wind gusts to 30 kt are likely with the
strongest perhaps producing wind gust in excess of 40 kt. With
time, the band should shift south and east. Additional scattered
thunderstorms may develop this morning ahead of a southward-
drifting front (currently inching into far northwestern
Illinois), and along the front itself. The strategy with the
outgoing TAF package is to offer VCTS at most terminals with a
targeted TEMPO with the expected frontal passage along which a
higher coverage of storms is possible. AMDs will be offered if
thunderstorm cells target individual TAF sites.

In the wake of the front, the TAFs become more trivial with
initially gusty but with time relaxing northwest winds and
scattered cloud cover.

Borchardt

&&

.LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IL...None.
IN...None.
LM...None.
&&

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 19, 3:27 AM CDT, 7 hours 35 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 19, 9:17 AM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jul 19, 9:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jul 19, 10:21 AM CDT, 41 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jul 19, 10:24 AM CDT, 38 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jul 19, 10:28 AM CDT, 34 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jul 19, 10:50 AM CDT, 12 minutes before
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 5:09 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTDeKalb36 min
Jul 19, 5:28 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTCook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle62 min
Jul 19, 6:22 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTGrundy, Will53 min
Jul 19, 7:31 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTLaSalle, Livingston59 min
Jul 19, 8:16 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTGrundy, Will44 min
Jul 19, 8:44 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryLOTCook, Grundy, Kankakee, LaSalle, Livingston, Will6 hr
Jul 19, 8:52 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTCook38 min
Jul 19, 9:01 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningLOT89 min
Jul 19, 10:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle57 min
Jul 19, 10:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle, Livingston53 min
Jul 19, 10:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, Kendall40 min
Jul 19, 10:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLivingston35 min
Jul 19, 11:15 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningLOT79 min
Jul 19, 11:35 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningLOT55 min
Jul 19, 11:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook22 min
Jul 19, 11:42 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTIroquois33 min
Jul 19, 9:17 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTPorter28 min
Jul 19, 11:15 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementLOTLake45 min
Jul 19, 11:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTJasper, Newton44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 2020Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2020

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.